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3 THE SOURCES OF LIBERAL DECLINE: FAILURES OF MIND
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3» THE SOURCE S O F LIBERA L DECLINE : FAILURES O F MIN D Having been too sanguine and too self-righteous abou t thei r part i n th e civi l right s movement , [liberals ] ar e to o easil y prey to despair when their contribution is rejected b y those they presumed t o help . Torn betwee n a naggin g guil t an d a secre t desire t o tur n o n thei r blac k tormentors , whit e liberal s hav e become spectator s watchin g wit h froze n horro r a s thei r inte grationist ideal s an d favorit e publi c program s disintegrat e amidst violent black rebellion. . . . Aaron Wildavsky, 1968 1 THE FADIN G O F THE GREAT SOCIET Y Lyndon Johnson anticipate d tha t his dream of a great society could become a reality i f his administration wer e abl e to transfor m th e blac k ghettos that had been created in inner city areas across the United States. In overseeing the transformation, Johnso n wante d t o see numbers: ho w many laws were passed, programs started , dollar s delivered, and peopl e enrolled. He assumed that if the numbers got high enough, the problem s could be tamed. While he was trying to move the numbers up in the ghetto neighborhoods of northern cities, however, these neighborhoods ble w up on him and o n his Democratic party . 49 50 WRONG FO R ALL THE RIGHT REASONS The rise and fall of the Great Society occurred during the brief period of Lyndon Johnson's presidency, between the passage of the civil rights laws and Richard Nixon's election in 1968. What happened to the search for solution s in these few years? President Johnson was surrounded b y self-confident me n who wer e dead certai n tha t ther e was no t a problem the y coul d no t resolve , eve n problems that they did not know much about o r that were not very well defined. Northern ghetto s were such a problem. So was Vietnam. Daniel Patrick Moyniha n trie d t o spel l ou t th e precis e natur e o f th e proble m with his report on the black family, and for a few months in the spring of 1965 he enjoyed th e support of Johnson's senior advisers. After hi s ideas were put forth b y the president at Howard University, however, they disappeared fro m officia l view . Despite the lack of a clear definition o f the problem, there seemed to be no lack of "solutions. " The proposals that were floated largel y originated fro m thre e "schools. " The Left offere d a theory o f empowermen t and confrontation tha t emphasized organizing poor neighborhoods, welfare clients , parents o f schoolchildren , an d worker s t o pres s fo r greate r benefits, jobs , public facilities , an d a forma l par t i n makin g decisions . Empowerment wa s mixed with redistribution program s modeled o n th e health and welfare programs of Western European socialists. The Left in the United States was permanently marginalized, however, for its rejection of democrati c capitalism—th e "mixed " economy—an d fo r it s denial of the idea that individual, family, and community responsibility must play key roles in grappling with ghetto pathologies . A second schoo l wa s le d b y social work theorist s an d profession als who advocate d "enriching " th e ghetto b y greatly increasing expen ditures fo r a wid e rang e o f socia l an d medica l service s tha t would , presumably, mak e lower-clas s peopl e mor e lik e middle-clas s people . The welfarist s assume d tha t traditiona l professiona l socia l service s would b e efficaciou s fo r th e poo r i f onl y sufficien t ta x dollar s wer e appropriated an d th e service s themselves wer e efficientl y coordinated . No one was very precise as to the amounts required, and school bureau crats , United Way executives, settlement houses, community actio n programs , mayors, and other s competed vigorousl y fo r th e designation o f "coordinator." A third view borrowed...